Hamam

Before we move on to Bucharest I forgot to cover one more very important thing I did on my birthday in Istanbul. Something else I saved for that special day was going to the traditional Turkish baths!

An amazing experience! To start they give you a small towel and a private room to get changed into just your towel. You lock all of your things in that room and then enter the baths.

You lay down on a communal hot marble slab in a warm room, almost like a steam room. Then after about 20 mins, when you have fully sweated, a giant man comes to drown you with buckets of water!

If you can breath in between buckets it is awesome! LOL Then he covers your body in bubbles and gently cleans your entire body with a soft wet towel. Now the nice part is over! He now puts on sandpaper rough gloves and goes to town taking a few layers off your skin while at the same time streching your body in all different directions on that slab. Then comes more buckets but this time COLD water! Then you go back to the slab for a rest.

After a nice rest you wash yourself with buckets and proceed out of the room for your oil massage! I was so in need of a massage and was really looking forward to a gentle massage… Then he jumps up on the bed, knees down into my butt and starts going to town streching out all my muscles and karate chopping my body! Then he wrapped my legs up over his shoulders some how and I had to grab his forearms real tight and with a massive yank I let out a bellowing groan and I felt like I had just been pulled apart into two pieces.

Now it was time for a relaxing herbal tea and I was on my way. I felt on top of the world!